


Burn as Blue

by ang3lsh1



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragons, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - No Powers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-19
Updated: 2014-05-19
Packaged: 2018-01-25 18:10:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1657706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ang3lsh1/pseuds/ang3lsh1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the King liberates Prince Erik from the dragon and carries him back to the kingdom, he doesn't realise that Prince Erik feels that he's been kidnapped instead and is determined to make his way back to his dragon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Burn as Blue

**Author's Note:**

> You can blame [ikeracity](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ikeracity/pseuds/ikeracity) on this. We screamed at each other about it and then it wouldn't leave our brains. Heavily inspired by [this](http://ang3lsh1.tumblr.com/post/86015100874/shiraglassman-dragons-dont-ever-really-leave). Which I probably didn't do any justice to it.
> 
> Anyway titled and betaed by the lovely **velvetcadence** the wonderful **kageillusionz** and **Shibs** helped too. Thank you so much!

They came for him during the day, where the sky was cloudless and blue as a robin’s egg. It was finer to hunt on these days, when most woodland creatures would venture out in search for food also, his dragon claimed.

 

They creeped through the labyrinth of their cavern, navigating the steep and sudden falls, passing the piles of gold and jewels, the bones of would-have-been thieves, lead by the very King himself. Until they came upon him, seated by the hearth, poring over a tome of anatomies. They must have sat outside in the forest for days, waiting for the dragon to take his leave before venturing in.

 

Erik roused himself in shock, it had been years since he last saw anyone, let alone having to use the tongue of man. So often does his dragon speak in his mind and he in turn does the same. The King knelt before him, lavishing cloying words of comfort, of how long they have searched for him, how his absence has been felt across the lands but now he needn’t fear, for they have finally succeeded and have come to escort him home.

 

Home. The word breaks him out of his stupor, and he scrambles madly for anything: pen, paper anything to leave his mark, let it be known that once again he’s been taken, and this time against his will. Unlike that moonless night, in what only felt like yesterday, his dragon came and he alighted; he has never looked back.

 

He tries to run deeper into the cavern, throwing his book, anything he can grasp at them, but the King only laughs and seizes him by the waist, promising him he will have everything he could ever want for back in their kingdom. And he can only kick and scream but bare fists do not make a dent in the iron of the King’s armor and his struggles are only met with a blow to the back of his head. There is nothing he can do to stop them and the fire burns at the back of his lids as his vision dims and he knows no more.

 

When he wakes to a throbbing head, he is greeted by the dull grey and tapestries of castle walls, not the gleam of limestone, threaded by milky quartz that he is accustomed to. As far as he can tell, he is locked in the north tower, by the shadows of the sun playing across the carpets. At first he screams and rages on, desperate to fling himself out of the stifling castle walls, where everything is cold stone and mortar, desperate to find his way back to a warm cavern, littered with leather tomes, cradled by gold and silver, inlaid with gems of all sizes.

 

For all his sound and fury, the doors to his chamber remain locked, save for the servants, flanked by at least one guardsman at all times, coming in to serve his meals and clean. In the end all his rage does is leave him physically and mentally exhausted. It does nothing to help his situation. Instead he calms himself and begins to think of means to achieve his ends.

 

When the King comes upon him, just to check up on him, you see, he has heard the rumours, of how his time with the dragon has perhaps made him feral, incapable of human tongue. He sets out to prove them wrong, now that he’s finally gained the attention of the King once again, he pleads with him, using every single art of guile taught to him by his dragon in jest, those days are so long gone, they begin to resemble sand slipping through his fingers. He begs and pleads wholeheartedly to be set free outside these castle walls.

 

The King gazes back at him with pity in his eyes, shakes his head in sorrow, murmuring how deep the dragon’s magic must go to still ensnare him so. Instead of setting him free, he decrees that the only method to undo the enchantment must be to keep him here, away from it’s influence. Besides they had set fire to the caves once they succeeded in rescuing the prince himself from the dragon’s maw. There is nowhere for him to return to.

 

The rest of the Kings words are lost in a wave of white noise as his blood slowly turns to ice and his body crumples to the floor. Finally when the King realises that Erik has stopped listening, he leaves after issuing standing orders to the servants to see to it that he does not do anything foolish; finally when he is left to his own devices, does he let himself curl up into a ball and sob for his lost home. He sobs for hours on end, until his throat is sore and parched, and finally he slowly pulls himself back together where he sits and thinks.

 

He begins by being pleasant to the servants, knowing not only are they the hands of the King, but also the eyes and ears. Everything he does will be reported back to His Majesty. Sure enough, in less than a month of his new found docile self, the King himself comes to visit him. It starts with a few minutes of the King’s time, just to check on him, you see, as to whether or not the enchantment has unravelled its claim upon him.

 

In the beginning the King is flanked by his guardsman, for his safety, and he tries so hard to tolerate the King’s presence, to be pleasant with him, despite the gnawing reminder that he is the very reason why he has been plucked from his home. Eventually the visits grow longer, the minutes stretches into hours, which in turn becomes meals that they share pleasant conversation over, one by one the number of guards dwindle, till they become lax and complacent with him, believing that perhaps the enchantment has worn off.

 

Erik bides his time and waits for the opportune moment, the last week of autumn, at the end of the harvest, before the first fall of snow, for the revelries to start. The guards would be eager to join in, the shorter days would make it easier for him to hide in the shadows. He ties the bedclothes together in an makeshift rope and uses it to scale down the tower and once at the bottom he would make for the forests.

 

Unfortunately for the Prince, the King is not as naive as he was given to believe for there are guards stationed beneath the tower and once again he is forced back into the kingdom, this time only to be locked within a room, where the windows are too high for him to reach, nor be able to gaze past them, hoping for a glimpse of deep, ocean blue soaring through the sky. He is locked in the lower towers to bide his time.

 

There is small comfort in the large hearth fire which he curls himself beside, wrapped up in the warmest blankets, but it is nothing compared to warmth emanating from scaled coils, coupled with the rumbling of his dragon’s chest as he breaths. Still, it is better than nothing.

 

In time, when spring blooms across the land, he is let out. After all, it is spring, the revelries are to be held once again. The people should be able to look upon their Prince after all, to witness how false the rumours of his bewitchment are, the King cries. The freedom to move about is but in name only, every step he takes is flanked by at least two of the King’s guardsmen.

 

His escorts are doubled when the tournaments come around, the King determined to show Erik off to the people, and he is forced to sit upon the dais, next to the King to watch. He is grateful to be let out into the sun, it’s heat upon his face is almost like his dragon’s breath grazing his cheek. Left with nothing else, he will take this small mercy.

 

He has no interest in the jousts, instead he turns his gaze to the skies in hopes of seeing the shimmering of blue scales, willing the time away, until the victor is announced. The Knight comes before them, removing his helmet, revealing a mess of chestnut brown curls, before tucking his helmet under his arm.

 

Erik steadfastly refuses to watch the Knight kneel before the King, to swear his allegiance. These Knights and their notions of righteousness, so eager to pluck people from their homes, all in the name of their King and justice. Instead, he sits and waits for the him to utter the words of ritual so that he may be released from the King’s presence. He is eager to return to his chambers after the tedium of the bout.

 

Instead the Knight ignores the King and kneels before Erik. Too shocked by the events, he doesn't even think to pull his hand away until the Knight is pressing a kiss to his hand, bowing his head as he swears his allegiance towards Erik and Erik alone.

 

He is furious - and rightly - so at this Knight who once again presumes that he is some sort of gift to be worn. Just as he’s about to snatch his hand away in order to slap him for his insolence, the Knight lifts his head with a cocky grin and his eyes that burn as blue as the deepest heart of the fire, where the flames are coldest and fiercest. Erik can only throw his head back and laugh and laugh and laugh.

 

He would know his dragon anywhere.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Kindle (the Burn as Blue Remix)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2075397) by [spicedpiano](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spicedpiano/pseuds/spicedpiano)
  * [Uncoiled (The Burn as Blue Remix)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4680629) by Anonymous 




End file.
